This specific rumor seems to be a little far fetched. Then again, the fact that new owner Mark Davis isn’t happy with the direction of the team could make him interested in talking to Gruden. And since Gruden is interested in maximizing his leverage, it makes sense that Gruden would listen.

I’m a big Chiefs fan, but I’d like to see the Raiders become relevant again, too, because it’s wrong that it isn’t one of the best rivalries in the NFL anymore.

That means that I think they need to give Dennis Allen more time. It’s just counterproductive to fire a coach after one year, especially when they walked into a horrible situation like Allen did.

Reggie has been smart by cutting all of the expensive underachievers and seeing what they have with young guys. Once the Raiders manage the cap situation, go through a full draft, and figure out the QB situation, they have enough talent to be pretty good.

As a Raiders fan I honestly don’t know what to think. Gruden would work wonders for attendance and he would likely improve the team. But what if he fails? What if the magic is gone? It would make Mark Davis into the new Dan Snyder. What if McKenzie and Allen need another year or two to put together a good team, but after that it’sba dynasty? Tough call.

Gruden’s a good coach if you give him good players, but who’s going to be the GM? You have to sort that issue out first. You have to have a GM that understands Gruden and knows how to feed him with the right players and the right philosophy.

Could it simply be the fact that he has been gone several years and owners have forgotten? He is similar to Barry Switzer, in that like Barry, he took ANOTHER coach’s hard work and former team to a SB victory. His overall record is around 500. I don’t remember ANY team lusting after coach Switzer. I do not understand the scramble/rush to sign coach Gruden.

This is like the first time I came home on leave from the Army. I ran into my ex girl and she still looked striking. We hooked up and went on a date, and it did not take long for me to realize why she was my ex…

Sorry Jon but you assembled a team of players that you had previously coached. You then beat that team in the Super Bowl by scolding a team that Tony Dungy built, and knowing the playbook.

Sorry Jon but please stay with ESPN, coach in Philly, or see what your really made of and start over in Arizona or Cleveland. But please, please realize that you have already done your thing in Oakland and some Raider fans think that Dennis Allen deserves his shot.

fudgrad: I understand your thinking but by that rationale wouldn’t the team he faced in the Super Bowl have taken advantage of his hard work to get there? So either way his hard work put a team in the Super Bowl that year right? And shouldn’t he also get credit for pushing his new team over the hump when their previous coach couldn’t?

I’m not a huge Gruden guy but you have to give him credit, Dungy never got that team to the Super Bowl, Gruden did and Gruden won it.

As a Raiders fan this would be a dream come true, although not very likely. I would like to see Allen get more time but a chance to get Gruden back would be too good to pass up. The Raiders could actually have a competent play caller again. If Gruden was running this offense I guarantee they would have a few more wins this season. The problem would be fixing the defense.

This is not unexpected in my eyes. Look, when an owner gives a ringing endorsement for their coach the coach is fired within a couple weeks. That popped into my head as soon as I heard Gruden give his current job a ringing endorsement. It’s all good…until something better comes along. That said, it just might be a ploy by Davis to light a fire under Allen’s a$$.

I’d love for this to happen but it won’t because the organization wants to give Allen another year. They really do.

I’m giddy just thinking about the possibility of Gruden coming back to my beloved Raiders. He was my favorite coach ever. I grew up with his teams. I witnessed the 52-9 thrashing of Carolina (to clinch the 2000 division title) live. I was at the 2000 AFC title game when Shannon Sharpe and Siragusa crushed our hopes and dreams. The tuck game stung me at my childhood core, and the Tuck Revenge game a year later was one of the sweetest victories I have ever experienced.

Reggie should have sought out Gruden last year when he had the chance.

Seriously Chucky, I love you. I love that you wore a Bo Jackson jersey and signed autographs at the famous Ricky’s Sports Bar in San Leandro when MNF did a Raiders game two years ago.

I love that you once let your kindergarten age sons (and your wife) sit in the Black Hole when you were the coach. Wish I could find an article for that.

I love that you called Lechler and Jano “Beavis and Butthead” on a national TV broadcast this preseason.

I love that you identified with and embraced Raider Nation more than any coach in Raiders history. Madden was better with people, truly brilliant at it. Flores was a better tactician. Shell and Hue were better with Al. You, undoubtably, were best with the Raider Nation. The One Nation. And we love you for it. The Super Bowl hurt us not just because we lost, but because we lost to you. It should have never happened that way. We wanted you to win so bad. We love you so much.

Lack of class by whomever floated this report. Father of the current Raiders coach passes away. Must be the perfect time to talk about his potential firing. This is part of what is wrong with the NFL and agents and the almighty dollar……

He did a great job with the Raiders what, a decade ago right? That team was loaded and he had them a tuck rule from the AFC Championship Game. After that he wins a Super Bowl with another coach’s players, the team takes a nose dive when he fully implements his system. Why is the guy so highly sought after?

If this is true and he gets hired, there’s your Hard Knocks for 2013….teaching Pryor the intricacies of ‘Wide Right Yellow Zip Fling, Box Troop 418 Z Post Waggle’.

Of all the teams that have been rumored to offer Gruden a job, this is the most ridiculous. The Raiders simply have no incentive to provide for Gruden besides Gruden using them as leverage to get another job. The best sell Reggie can do is,”Please come back to the place that traded you away, we have Probowl special teamers for you to win with and nothing more!” The Raiders have no bargaining power when it comes to marquee coaches, with the way the roster is constructed right now. The Raiders have only regressed since their best game of the year, a week 6 loss to the Falcons. The team is closer to hitting rock bottom than it is keeping its nose out the water.

Agree with dawsonleery. McKenzie knows it takes time to develop a team. Allen inherited a team that hardly had any draft picks this year…thanks to Hue “The Magnificent” Jackson and his Carson Palmer deal.

ha aha you guys are funny. There no way this guy is going to come back to coaching and go to a team like the Raiders. Sorry but can anyone outside Oakland name ANYONE on that team??? He’s been waiting for the right opportunity and that IS Philly. The dismantling comment?? That was really comical. There will be no fire sale. The only people leaving town are the coaches which ALL need to go and Vick will be gone because there is absolutely no reason to keep him and kill our salary cap when Foles is our QB of the future. Furthermore, the Eagles are an extremely talented team. The PLAYERS are not as bad as their record, the coaching staff is. This team is terrible because of scheme, scheme on defense and scheme on offense. The wide 9 is crap and Howard Mudds offensive line blocking scheme is just another failed gimmick. If they just played traditional old school football, they’d be leading the division. And now they’re going to have a top 5(probably top 3) draft pick…who wouldn’t want to be the next coach in Philly!! Everyone seems to forget Gruden started his career in Philly and he absolutely loved it. Trust me, he’s coming to Philly, as Phillyphan72 said, PERIOD!!!

atwater: You make very good points. I still do not understand the adulation/fervor around coach G. Compare his overall record with the current Eagle’s coach and you will see what I am talking about. Coach Gruden remains in the area of 500. He certainly deserves and probably will get another shot. I am not suggesting he should not be a HC. I just don’t understand the fervent rush to court him and give him power, control and untold riches.

The Oakland Raiders need something for their fans to excited about. Mark Davis realizes the biggest mistake they made was letting Gruden go. McKenzie should have never went with a rookie head coach. And then let the rookie coach hire a coordinator who was fired by the Raiders once before. Knapps offense is a dink n dunk offense. it does not suit the raider wr at all.

Doesn’t anyone remember how he failed in Tampa? Sure he won a Super Bowl but only because he knew every play the Raiders were running in that game. The Raiders are a young team and Gruden isn’t capable of developing players, he would fail in Oakland this time around.

I would hope Mark learned a few things from the failed last years of the Raiders. Stability is the answer. You hired someone who many said was the best GM in waiting out there. Give him time. If this roster was completely set free I bet less than 50% would find a home on other teams and less than 15% would start. Al used to talk to people all the time to get advice. Gruden still has some friends out in Oakland. Maybe Mark was picking his brain and Gruden is smart enough to use it to get more $ out of someone. I gotta think there’s got to be a point ESPN says we’re paying you enough, does anyone really tune in to MNF to listen to Chuckie? Plus there was a synergy between Davis, Allen and Gruden that worked. Now maybe Davis’ ego got in the way of Gruden staying, but I sure don’t remember the Gruden/Allen team doing anything of any significance after the Super Bowl in Tampa, and Gruden had very little to do with the make up of that team and Allen arrived next year and all they did was acquire quarterbacks and ultimately lose and get fired.

I would love to get Gruden a talent evaluator. He’s a good coach, poor personnel guy. He falls in love with college highlight players instead of hard nose guys. If we can team Gruden with McKenzie I think we have a perfect pair

Please come back Chucky! Hue had a fire lit then Dennis came and extinguished it. Players don’t respect this guy. I am sick of everyone talking of giving him a chance. He hired Knapp and should have been fired right there.

The smile on Jon’s face greeting the lunatics in the black hole a few weeks ago spoke volumes about what he wants to do. Gruden is perhaps the only iconic figure that could replace another iconic figure in Oakland, and you know that he thinks about that since he was left in the snow of NE.

I could see it I guess. Its probably the only place where he is going to get full control….as the people in charge now obviously have no clue as to what they are doing.
But, I still see Gruden taking over the Browns job….or maybe a weird/surprise move to the Cowboys???

if Mark Davis cares anything about the Raider Mystique and of course, filling seats, he’ll make this move. it probably is just a rumor, but if by chance it isn’t, it would be just what this franchise needs….to be turned on its head. if any ONE man could actually do that, it would be Jon Gruden. and no Hifive…this would not be like rehiring 100 year old Joe Gibbs. i think we can all agree the game hasn’t passed by Jon yet. i don’t think the same can be said about Joe.

Gruden in Oakland… That’s just absurd…. or is it?? Wait I heard Gruden was talking to Jax about their upcoming vacancy, or was that the NYJ-E-T-S, wait, wait, wait, it was the Phylidullfia Smeagles, nope, that wasn’t it either, it was, uh, ummmm, San Diego. Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket.

For Christ’s sake Pa-Leez stop with the crappola rumors and fodder for stoo-pid comments… You know, stoo-pid like mine!!!

Mark Davis knows he has got to sell tickets. He also realizes that the team needs an identity most of all, and Gruden is radically different than Dennis Allen in terms of intensity.

The issue is could this guy win with a legit QB, and Carson Palmer, despite the interceptions, is a legit starter. Gruden would bring a balanced attack and most of all, some respected assistants.

The buzz in the Bay Area is that Greg Papa reiterated that Gruden was considered as Raiders head coach in 2009 right before Hue Jackson was hired. Pappa was telling his stories of Gruden on 95.7 The Game.
Al Davis supposedly told this directly to Papa.

Papa thinks it’s more likely to return to the Raiders. he’s speaking frankly right now about it..Hub Arkush probably is continuing that line.

If anything, its to light a real fire under Allen or to get Gruden leverage.

Not only will Davis overstep McKenzie, he could sweep him out altogether and give Gruden GM and coaching power. The question really is how much could they pay, and how much cap hit will they take, and would Gruden outright snatch Monte Kiffin away from SC.

Kiffin has struggled defensively since Rocky Seto and Ken Norton left to join Pete Carroll in Seattle.

Even if it is hearsay only, its the best news Raider Nation could have heard in a decade. The issue isnt was Jon Gruden overrated, the issue is, his particular style of leadership put the Raiders on the map and he has “unfinished business” with them.

Enough of the comments that Gruden won with Dungy’s team. Dungy’s didn’t win with Dungy’s team. I’m a die hard Bucs fan, and I appreciate everything Tony Dungy did to revitalize the Bucs, but the man couldn’t hire a competent offensive coordinator nor could he ever beat the Eagles.

When Gruden came to town, he brought in several impact players on the offensive side of the football; Keenan McCardell, Michael Pittman, Joe Jurevicius and Ken Dilger just to name a few, all starters on offense and all very effective for Tampa. Brad Johnson played his best football, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl and even role players like Ricky Dudley were Gruden guys. Lets also not forget his brilliant play calling against the Eagles to get Tampa to its first Super Bowl and the total domination over the Raiders to win a championship.

Bottom line: Jon Gruden didn’t just stumble blindly into a Super Bowl winning squad. He pushed that team over the top and had they not won, you’d be looking at a different career perspective for the defensive players that were coached by Dungy.

Gruden deserves all the criticism in the world for his drafting, as the tag team of Gruden/Bruce Allen produced draft classes that ranged from atrocious to mediocre, taking far too many gambles (Dexter Jackson) and drafting too many players with clear character concerns (Aqib Talib and Tanard Jackson). Davin Joseph was their best draft pick, and that’s not a knock on Joseph, a pro bowl worthy guard (when healthy). It just wasn’t enough, and the lack of development with the youth and the inability to draft young productive players is what really did Gruden in. Pair him with a smart GM that will provide him with pieces and Gruden can help a team move in the right direction.

Seriously, if Gruden were coming back, it would have happened last year. Whenever he goes back to Oakland they treat him like a rock star. Last year was when it would have made sense. Now it would be a circus. I’ve given up on pining for Gruden and the old days.

If McKenzie or Davis shows Allen the door so soon, McKenzie will look like someone who makes snap judgements, something he certainly didn’t learn in GB, and Davis will look like a chip off the old block, something he is supposedly trying to prove he isn’t (until his interview last week). This team has a few building blocks in place, we just need to get some depth. If I were McKenzie, everyone would be on the trading block (especially McFadden, who the Jets would probably trade three picks for, regardless of his durability) as long as they could turn them into multiple picks.

As a Raiders fan, I could definitely see this happening. What’s weird is that I see it working out. Gruden always liked having a vet QB to lead his offense. He’d have that in Carson Palmer. He’s also always ready and willing to motivate through getting pissed and yelling. That’s what this team needs right now. The past few head coaches were softies.

Call it a “hunch” but I bet anybody a case of beer that if Gruden does come back to coaching, he’s a bust, no matter where it is. I might even say the same thing about Cowher, though, he probably has a little better chance.

If you’ve ever heard him gush on-and-on about Cam, I mean “Slam” Newton as Gruden says, you’d know he’d love for the chance to coach that type of athlete that’s only 23 yrs old. No GM presently in Carolina, I think it’s the only real NFL possibility he would truly consider. Over the likes of Philly, Dallas, SD, KC, OAK, and possibly NYJ & Tenn. He’d walk in Day One in complete control (I think he’d be pulling all the strings there) with a roster with talent and pieces to build around, Cam, Kalil, Greg Olsen, Charles Johnson, Greg Hardy, & Luke Keuchly, a Top 8 draft pick, and the ability to shed some salary this offseason. I think it’s his most intriguing option out there, but that’s just my humble opinion.

Don’t see it. The Raiders may be bad this year, but Dennis Allen is the hand-picked guy from the Raiders’ new regime; they’re in this for the long haul, changing the attitude & production of the team, and Allen will be there at least 2 more years.

If Al Davis would have let Gruden have more control of his players cut Al’s scholars … he would still be the Raiders coach with a couple of SBs titles.
If a coach can’t cut a player what’s the sense of coaching that team.

If this is actually true then I don’t like it at all. I know that Gruden and McKenzie were both in Green Bay in the early to mid ’90s but to me this sounds like a Mark Davis inspired idea to light a fire under the fanbase (or the significant portion that could be bamboozled by this P.T. Barnum type stunt). As such it directly undermines McKenzie’s job as GM and returns the Raiders to the circus/laughingstock type atmosphere that prevailed in Al Davis’ last few decades.

Aside from the hucksterism that would be involved in bringing Jon-boy back to Oakland there’s also the question as to how it would translate on-the-field? There’s no guarantee that it would actually be good for the Silver & Black. There’s no question that Gruden was an excellent HC in his first stint in Oakland after taking over from Bugel…but then Art Shell was also pretty good his first time too after taking over from Shanahan. The fact is that after “Chuckie” won the Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team, he went about running the Bucs into the ground and was fired in Tampa after seven years spent compiling a mediocre record. So I’m dubious about the prospects of Gruden repeating his magic a second time in Oakland.

I had originally thought that with the new regime, bona-fide good HCs may now actually think of the Raiders as a viable destination (rather than a sewer)…but that will depend upon whether Dennis Allen is viewed as having received a legitimate chance to succeed or fail. Prematurely pulling the rug out from under Allen would signify that the M.O. regarding HCs hasn’t changed from father to son.

Lastly if the report about the Raiders talking to Gruden this week are true then this is about as classless as Mark Davis could get considering that Dennis Allen is just now returning from saying his last goodbyes and burying his father.

Dennis Allen is a slow reactor… he ignored scheme failures, personnel, and injury issues till about now. He basically watched from the sidelines all season. so did Reggie and so did Mark Davis and Amy Trask.

Gruden is a gamebreaker, raiders won’t sell 1/2 the tickets to their 1st home game next year with Allen still coaching, gruden would create a waiting list.

If Gruden does get back into coaching I really hope he ends up with Tim Tebow. That way the media would only have to make one stop to drool over the two most-hyped, least-accomplished guys in the game today.

You guys are talking about an 8-8 team that was a game away from the playoffs after losing it’s starting QB and “star” RB mid season. It’s not like they went fire sale and now Allen is picking up the pieces….

I’ve been a strict supporter of staying the course and building consistency but something isn’t right with Allen leading this team.

Chucky is a nice nostalgia idea…I get it…I long for those days terribly. I just don’t see it happening. Why talk to him now? Can’t show some respect and wait for the season to end?

I’ll be honest though…dropping Palmer, McFadden, Seymore and Kelly’s salary while running a RG3 influenced pistol with Pryor, Reece and our WR’s could be fun and needs a strong hand like a Gruden to come in and implement it and get people to believe. Pryor as Gruden’s project that eveyone wants him to have…it’s all here for him. Even his wildcat that he loves could work….

First and foremost, I agree with many on the timing with the passing of DA’s Father, not good If Mark Davis really is .. but I do believe that Mark & McKenzie do know that more cancer needs to be trimmed from the locker room, and until that is done than DA can work with his own schemes and philosophy, That being said he may not be able to hire his own Cocahing personnel, as they also need to be trimmed.

Think about it with the release of many Uninspired Players, the Raiders can save over $60 Million, every aspect of the team needs to be decimated including the WR corp who dropped 6 perfectly thrown passes last week.

Gruden would be thrown into the same situation as DA, and if a good coach like a Coughlin, would take at least 2 years to turn around the team. We need a coach who can do just that .. get every steam out of a every player, can DA do this next year? Can Gruden? …

This very rumor seems to come up every year and each time it does, I get a little excited to think that maybe we could have a good team again if Gruden was back, then I’m let down a few days later when the rumor is quashed. Don’t hold your breath Raider Nation.

I suspect we’re in for at least one more year of the current coaching staff before we have to start all over again. At this rate, we won’t have another championship caliber team for 10-12 years. But maybe I’m just jaded from the last 12 years.

“Give Allen time.. the roster is horrible.. its not his fault, he is not a magician..”

Yet with practically the same roster last year (but under a better coach) we were a 0.500 club and one choke away from the playoffs. I don’t think there can be any doubt that this abortion of a season lays squarely at the feet of Reggie and “his guy” Allen.

I brought this up in other post of mine, that Gruden would be a possibility if this season imploded, which it has. This won’t be a Reggie decision, this will be a Mark Davis decision and we need to sell tickets next year season because we suck. It really looks like with the current talent on this roster, and the FA losses we will take next year, we could be worse. The hole that the the draft giveaways of the last several years made, have hurt this team to the core. No depth. The Raiders really needed a veteran coach, Allen was a (rookie) mistake, because the talent on the roster was overestimated. Chuckie will sell tickets, even if we suck next year. He is the tpye of coach that can at least get us back to 8-8, and then {improve) the next year to get into the playoffs. Without Gruden, it will be a blackout low attendance 2-14 season, and we will be talking about this again.

Although, Jon Gruden is doing a very nice job at ESPN, everyone knows that he is best suited to be a head coach in the NFL. Although, he has stated his commitment to ESPN, the right situation, and the right amount of money would definately see him back, coaching, on the sidelines. He, is no doubt, one of the biggest names to be tossed around, as far as a potential head coaches are concerned. He definately has a soft-spot for the Raiders, and bleeds “Black & Silver”. But, don’t think for one minute that, if he did decide to return to coaching, he wouldn’t consider coaching the Dallas Cowboys, in that billion dollar stadium, if Jerry Jones guaranteed him the kind of control, over player personnel, drafting, etc., that he couldn’t get Al Davis to relinquish. Would Jerry Jones be willing to give Gruden that type of power? In most cases, I would say no. However, Jerry Jones does remember that Gruden is the only coach in history to lead two different teams to the Superbowl in a two-year period. He also the only coach in history to lead his team, the Raiders, to the Superbowl, and not come back as its head coach, the next year. Gruden is so far superior to most of the coaches leading teams today, that’s it’s quite appalling to see him remain out of coaching. We want to see “Chucky” back on the sidelines, no matter what team he coaches. He was the most colorful coach in football. Either you loved him or hated him. There was no in-between.

Gruden has wanted back for a long time…he loved being a raider, and enjoyed living in Pleasanton with the family. Nobody can fault the raiders at the time for getting two #1’s, and two # 2, plus 8 million cash for gruden. I mean the raiders got over so much the nfl made the “gruden”rule that teams can not receive compensation for coaches.

Bottom line, the lat time the raiders had a winning season is when Gruden was there..enough said.

fdugrad says:
Dec 4, 2012 8:35 PM
he took ANOTHER coach’s hard work and former team to a SB victory
———
i always get a kick out of these comments….in this logic then dungy’s team played gruden’s team, and lucky for dungy’s team that they had gruden’s offense playbook…..pure stupidty.

I would like to see Jon Gruden as new Raiders coach, 49ers win this upcoming 49th Super Bowl, then 49ers and Raiders at Super Bowl in Santa Clara for the 50th (jubilee) and the niners giving it up for Raiders to win as pre-envisioned from the start, so there would be no more riots in the losers side, and the Bay Area would be so filled with glory as to drive out crime altogether.